Ireland showdown could bring out the best in France

By Julien Pretot CARDIFF (Reuters) - France may have done little to impress in the past four years, but there is nothing like a Rugby World Cup showdown to wake up Les Bleus, and Sunday’s Pool D decider against Ireland at the Millennium Stadium is just that. Ireland entered the tournament as the top European nation and have not lost to Philippe Saint-Andre’s team in their previous four meetings, but France have a history of showing their best when they have their backs to the wall and they have never lost to Ireland in three World Cup encounters. “Ireland are the favourites for that game,” lock Yoann Maestri conceded. “It would be pretentious to say that we are better than them. But, yes, we want to show our strength.” Flyhalf Johnny Sexton is likely to be the first to feel the force of French resolve as captain Thierry Dusautoir and number eight Louis Picamoles target the influential Irish playmaker, but he will not be alone. “I say it and I repeat it, my players are desperate to play in this match,” Saint-Andre told a news conference on Friday. “They’ve had this game in their heads for a very long time.” With a lengthy preparation and comfortable victories in their opening three pool matches, France have been quietly building momentum look better armed than for their previous Six Nations game against Ireland. “We know that against Ireland it will be a high-level game; we will have to be disciplined and very strong on high balls,” warned Saint-Andre, who never lost against Ireland as a player. “They’re strong on the lineouts, too. They score a lot with their ball-carrying. They can play, but they can also fight. They are very efficient.” Ireland are well aware that France pose a bigger threat in World Cup matches and Sexton said that he observed during his two seasons at Racing Metro that the Six Nations "was almost like a burden" with everything built towards the World Cup. Ireland coach Joe Schmidt has made three changes from the side that narrowly beat Italy 16-9 and said that his Six Nations champions must be more accurate on Sunday and be ready for an attritional midfield battle. "If you give them opportunities or you're loose with the ball or if your discipline is not nailed on, it gives them access; and once they get momentum, they are very, very difficult to stop," said Schmidt, who has also coached in France. "We just know that there is going to be a wave coming at us, and that doesn't include the guys with footwork." Ireland flanker Peter O'Mahony believes that the team need to raise their game by two or three levels from their three victories in the tournament so far if they are to add a fourth on Sunday. "I think everyone knows we're in for one of the biggest weeks in probably all of our lives," O'Mahony said. "It's certainly going to be the biggest game I've ever played in." Teams: France: 1-Eddy Ben Arous, 2-Guilhem Guirado, 3-Rabah Slimani, 4- Pascal Pape, 5-Yoann Maestri, 6-Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 7- Damien Chouly, 8-Louis Picamoles; 9-Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 10-Frederic Michalak, 11-Brice Dulin, 12-Wesley Fofana, 13-Mathieu Bastareaud, 14-Noa Nakaitaci, 15-Scott Spedding Replacements: 16-Benjamin Kayser, 17-Vincent Debaty, 18-Nicolas Mas, 19-Alexandre Flanquart, 20-Bernard Le Roux, 21-Morgan Parra, 22-Remi Tales, 23-Alexandre Dumoulin Ireland: 1-Cian Healy, 2-Rory Best, 3-Mike Ross, 4-Devin Toner, 5-Paul O'Connell, 6-Peter O'Mahony, 7-Sean O'Brien, 8-Jamie Heaslip; 9-Conor Murray, 10-Johnny Sexton, 11-Dave Kearney, 12-Robbie Henshaw, 13-Keith Earls, 14-Tommy Bowe, 15-Rob Kearney Replacements: 16-Richardt Strauss, 17-Jack McGrath, 18-Nathan White, 19-Iain Henderson, 20-Chris Henry, 21-Eoin Reddan, 22-Ian Madigan 23-Luke Fitzgerald. (Additional reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by David Goodman)